Ryan Atwood/Alec McDowell (The OC/Dark Angel) slash, but non-graphic. Takes place about a year after the DA Series Finale. Ryan is about 20 or so.

Ironically, I pretty much wrote this from Max's POV, despite the fact that I wanted to smack her a lot of times when it came to her treatment of Alec... lol

Alec snuck out of Terminal City regularly, and finally Max was tired of wondering where he went and ghosted him. He knew he was being followed, and actually managed to lose her twice, would have lost her for good if she was anything but Transgenic. Instead, she found him again both times, finally tracking him to a rundown apartment building and watching as he went up to the 6th floor on the fire escape before slipping in through a window. She waited a few minutes, then followed, crouching down and listening.

At first, she heard nothing, just the sound of breathing. Then there was a hitch in the breathing, and Max realized it was two people. A sniff of the air told her Alec had come here for sex, and she really wasn't all that surprised. Still, she needed to make sure he wasn't doing anything to compromise them, and crept into the apartment, which was worn down but kept neat and clean. As she edged towards the quiet sounds, she heard Alec growl softly, the growl that wasn't quite predatory, but wasn't quite calm either, and felt an irrational surge of jealousy.

"You know, it's a good thing I don't like people, or you'd really scare the shit out of anyone else I had over," a male voice said, and Alec laughed softly.

"Sector Cops leaving you alone?"

"Yeah, they're too worried about Terminal City."

"Yeah," Alec said, drawing out the word.

"I'm not stupid," the man whispered, and Max could almost hear lips pressing to skin. "I know who you are, Alec."

"Yeah? And who's that?" Alec asked, his tone a mix of amusement and worry.

"Nothing that changes anything," the man said.

Alec made a content sound, and Max was surprised to hear what almost sounded like a purr. "If it was safe there for you, I'd bring you back with me," he said.

"I've got responbilities here, Kaitlin and Soph need me..."

It was at that moment that Max heard the floor creak behind her and she ducked behind the worn couch as a little girl of maybe 6 came out of the other room.

"Ry?" the girl called quietly.

There was a rustle of cloth from the room Alec was in, and then a short, stocky, young man exited wearing a pair of sweatpants. "What's up, Soph?"

"Is Alec here?" she asked.

"Yeah, kid, I am," Alec replied, walking out of the room in a pair of pajama pants.

"I heard a noise."

"Probably just me getting here," Alec said, but Max heard the change in his voice, could almost smell the sudden tension he was radiating.

"Nuh-uh," Sophie Rose said. "You came here, then something else..."

"Go stay with the girls, Ryan" Alec said, and Max heard the fear.

"No need," Max said, stepping out. "Had to know where you were sneaking off to, Alec," she said.

"You could have asked," Alec said, almost growling.

"Friend or not?" Ryan asked, Sophie Rose balanced on his hip but his posture saying he was ready to either run or fight.

"Friend, even if she doesn't trust me," Alec said. "She's not gonna hurt the girls, though," he added.

"You mind not yelling? I'm hoping my sisters will get some sleep tonight," Ryan snapped, his tone quiet but angry. "I'm gonna go check on 'em, you know the way out, since you broke in that way," he added, the first part to Alec, the rest to Max.

"You wanna interrogate now, or tomorrow?" Alec said.

"You could have told us. Told me."

"Right, when was I suppose to tell you, Max?" Alec asked, a tinge of sarcasm edging into his tone. "Logan's suppose to think you and me are together, and you are always with him, so when do I tell you I got a thing with a guy out here?"

"How long have you known him?" Max asked.

"Since 'Monty Cora'," Alec admitted. "Ryan was in some of the smaller time cage fights, held his own pretty good, too. He refused to go to the more dangerous ones 'cause of his sisters, so instead it became that if you could beat him, you were ready to move up."

"Don't tell me you kicked his ass," Max said.

"No, I slaughtered another guy and they skipped right past Ryan because they didn't want him getting messed up," Alec said with a smirk. "Worked for me c'cause I kinda like the face he's got. And the older of his girls, she's an evil mastermind, she'd find a way to take me out if I had."

"I'll tell Logan the truth," Max said. "So you don't have to hide."

"I'd hide anyway," Alec said. "Not safe to take Ryan and his girl's into TC, they'd get sick. And if anyone found out he's got connections with us, they'd all be dead or locked up. I'm not risking them."

"Still. They should have contact info, in case they need help," Max said.

"He wouldn't take it," Alec said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "And he'd get pissed that I was putting everyone in TC at risk by handing out the info."

"Give him the address of Joshua's old place, just in case," Max said. "So he has somewhere to go. I'll tell Logan he's a friend of yours, so he'll let them in."

"Fine," Alec agreed. "Now you wanna leave so maybe I can salvage tonight?" he added, gesturing towards the room he and Ryan had been in.

"The flirting in TC..."

"I've got a reputation to maintain," Alec said.

"Just a reputation?"

"Just a reputation," Alec agreed.

"Don't worry, I won't let it get out," Max said with a smirk as she climbed back out the window. "When can we expect you back?"

"Before dawn," Alec said.

"See you then," Max agreed, but she paused just out of sight, listening for Ryan to come back into the living room.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Max just thinks I'm reckless and that I could be revealing information that could get TC raided."

"If I thought you were, I'd kick your ass," Ryan replied.

"Or at least get Kaitlin to?" Alec asked, and Max could hear that the smirk had returned.

"I do know your weaknesses," Ryan said, and again there was a sound Max knew was lips on skin.

"Damn it, now I've betrayed us all," Alec said mockingly, followed by soft laughter that faded slightly as they headed back into the bedroom.

Max shook her head and started back towards Terminal City.

~~~

"Is he a security threat?" Logan asked the next morning when he saw Max.

"I met him, and he seems nice," Max said, laughing as Logan dropped the pen he'd been holding and turned.

"What?"

"Alec is seeing a guy, Ryan," Max said. "I talk to him briefly, seems nice. He knows Alec is an X5, but he doesn't care. And get this, the guy has sisters, and the younger one just adores Alec."

Logan frowned, then looked up. "Would you recognize this 'Ryan' if you saw a picture?" he asked.

"Yeah," Max replied, her own frown returning.

Logfan tapped on the computer for a minute, then turned it to show her a hacked police file. "That him?"

Max's frown deepened as she read the file. "Yeah," she said. "Alec said he worked fights, it's how they met," she said. "But this..."

"He used to be one of my informants," Logan said. "He's where I got the information about the shipment of girls being sent to China. A couple female friends of his had been taken by those same guys on earlier runs, he made it his business to seek out Eyes Only and help take the bastards down. Once we did that, he started giving me dirt on some politician's he... worked for."

"What do you mean, 'worked for'?" Max asked.

"Ryan's an 'assistant' to a half dozen of the rich assholes around Seattle," Alec said as he walked in. "It gives him the cash to pay for the apartment and food for his sisters and him."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"He's gotta do what it takes, because he's not letting his sisters go through the same hell he did," Alec said. "Doesn't mean I like it."

"Made him take it," Alec said. "He said he'd memorize it and make Kaitlin memorize it, then he'd get rid of it."

End Of Snippet

I could write more of this... Ryan/Alec is hotness... and the idea of Alec being adored by Sophie Rose... plus I need to explain how Ryan is raising Kaitlin and Sophie Rose as his 'sisters', and trust me, it ain't anything like how they became family on The OC.